The Kovy Conundrum

lol whatever. Tonight was certainly progress but I doubt a mere secondary assist is what the Devils were hoping for considering all the chances Kovy got. He was all over the ice I'll grant you, one of his better efforts but it's kinda sad that people think that's enough for what we gave up and paid for him.

If he plays like this every night, you'll see 2 and 3 point games on the regular. The idea that this 'isn't enough' is ridiculous - he set up a ton of scoring chances tonight.

Kovalchulk is a great player. Any of the other 29 teams would glady take him.

Enough said.

If that's the case then why did only 'one' other NHL team make a lowball offer to him when he was UFA two years ago? And the Thrashers tried to re-sign him, so basically three NHL teams made him an offer...compared to the seventeen or eighteen that made Brian Rolston an offer when he was a UFA lol.

Edited by NJDevs4978, 03 December 2011 - 11:44 PM.

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"The Devils have high standards, that's the difference. We have a standard to live up to every year, and a couple of teams in our area don't have the standards we do." - Pat Burns

The New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cups everywhere:-NHL record for most road wins in the playoffs - 10-1 in '95 and 10-2 in '00-NHL record for most home wins in the playoffs - 12-1 in '03

If Kovy didn't sign with us, and instead signed to a team who had a clue how to utilise his assets, you would be calling for Lou's head as Kovy racked up the points.

Of course, right now, the team is playing terrible, and the lines make no sense, nor does the strategy of the Power Play. Our star forward for the next decade+ is on the wrong side of the ice, and is playing a different game then the one that earned him the big contract. Tell me how that makes sense.

If Kovy didn't sign with us, and instead signed to a team who had a clue how to utilise his assets, you would be calling for Lou's head as Kovy racked up the points.

We basically had the chance to try Kovy out in 09-10. He didn't make a difference in our offense then. A smart front office would have looked at Kovy during the off season and realized that Kovy wasn't the piece to the puzzle. That season we limped into the playoffs and almost got swept by the Flyers. The front office should have seen that and let him walk. So while I'm sure some of us would have been woulda coulda shoulda we would have gotten over it. We lost Gomer, Nieds, Rafalski, Holik etc. Sure we were disappointed but we moved forward and succeeded. We still played a team game and realized the parts weren't more than the whole. Look at the 07-08 club. Aron Asham, Karel Rachunek? We still managed to make the playoffs. Signing Kovy was the first sign that there was no sense of team effort anymore.

Well Lemaire was basically pushed into retirement and Langs was asked to waive his no-trade before the '10-11 season and refused, so actually there wasn't much more that could have been done to 'address' that

Edited by NJDevs4978, 04 December 2011 - 12:13 AM.

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"The Devils have high standards, that's the difference. We have a standard to live up to every year, and a couple of teams in our area don't have the standards we do." - Pat Burns

The New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cups everywhere:-NHL record for most road wins in the playoffs - 10-1 in '95 and 10-2 in '00-NHL record for most home wins in the playoffs - 12-1 in '03

Well Lemaire was basically pushed into retirement and Langs was asked to waive his no-trade before the '10-11 season and refused, so actually there wasn't much more that could have been done to 'address' that

I get that, but Adam is saying that us not signing Kovalchuk would have been received harshly. I recall us being in a scoring slump and that's what got us into the Kovy trade. It didn't help and those Langenbrunner issues weren't addressed until the foloowing season so they were put on the backburner and instead we went after an offensive dynamo that didn't pan out.Since then it's all been plugging holes here and there at first due to the Kovy cap situation to signing players who don't really add much a la Janssen and Boulton.

We basically had the chance to try Kovy out in 09-10. He didn't make a difference in our offense then. A smart front office would have looked at Kovy during the off season and realized that Kovy wasn't the piece to the puzzle. That season we limped into the playoffs and almost got swept by the Flyers. The front office should have seen that and let him walk. So while I'm sure some of us would have been woulda coulda shoulda we would have gotten over it. We lost Gomer, Nieds, Rafalski, Holik etc. Sure we were disappointed but we moved forward and succeeded. We still played a team game and realized the parts weren't more than the whole. Look at the 07-08 club. Aron Asham, Karel Rachunek? We still managed to make the playoffs. Signing Kovy was the first sign that there was no sense of team effort anymore.

Well he has 27 pts in 27 that season and he was the only one who stepped up in the playoffs. He played well here during the rental period

Well he has 27 pts in 27 that season and he was the only one who stepped up in the playoffs. He played well here during the rental period

True, but we still limped into the playoffs and lost 4-1 to Philly in the playoffs. So while Kovalchuk had 27 pts in 27 games he wasn't the game changer we expected when we traded for him, thus something else was the problem and Kovy wasn't the answer.

People fail to deal with the facts. They look at post and see what they want instead of seeing the facts.

-Kovalchuk has tremendous talent to take the puck and make a move, but he does NOT bring anyone to the next level with him.

-Kovalchuk is a defensive liability. He might score 35-40 goals, but if you are a -25 than you were out there for a goal. Sure you can come up with excuses all you want, but the other night was no isolated incident. I'd rather have a player put up less goals and have a better plus/minus. Anyone can score lots of goals and play for a team who doesn't win (HINT -See Atlanta when he was there).

-The debate about him playing Left Wing or Right Wing is silly. He should be able to play both. Sure he might be better on one than the other, but we really haven't seen such dramatic changes that it should effect his play. Sure he is coming down his off side, but so what. Shanahan made it happen. Sykora does it. It seems like an excuse. The powerplay garbage about him not being good on the point is also garbage. For years Sykora played that point and didn't have NEARLY the same mistakes happen to himn. Why than is Kovalchuk having these issues? Isn't Kovy a better player? Don't even begin to say Sykora was a better defensively or who was his defensive partner (Ah... Brian Rafalski)? Please stop the excuses.

-Kovalchuk cannot hangle pressure. I've stated before he cannot handle being number 3 in the shootout. Being the number one shooter has zero stress, because NO MATTER what happens someone on your team will ALWAYS get a chance next. Kovalchuk cannot handle the stress of being the numnber 3 guy. Why does this matter? If he cannot handle that stress, he cannot handle the playoffs. He has already demonstrated both.

-Kovalchuk doesn't want to learn. I've heard the term "two-way player" mentioned concerning him. Well he definitely tried to chase down Mikko Koivu the other night and that might be his best two way skill (skating down with the puck and trying to come back after he screwed it up). He's a two-way player like Rod Pelley is power forward. Please stop with this term. John Madden was a two way player. Kyle Brodziak is a two way player. Dave Bolland is a two way player. Ilya Kovalchuk is not and will never be.

-Kovalchuk can't be blamed entirely for his contract. The Devils did GIVE it to him. I wonder what would've happened to him if the Devils weren't able to make it happen? I see Alexei Yashin never came back. I hope Kovalchuk leaves for the KHL sooner than later. His contract has far lasting effects (the lost draft picks due to the circumvention, the inability to sign certain players, and other intangilbes that have not yet presented themselves.

-The Devils have always been about team. Kovalchuk is about himself. Sure he'll pass, but he is more interested in controlling that puck. It is his game and he seems to be just as excited stick handling through five guys than he is when he scores. This does not help the team and Ilya won't be changing his gamne so close to thirty years of age.